MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE
LOUISIANASTATEMUSEUM
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Monday, October 8, 2012
12:30 pm – The Old U.S. Mint
New Orleans, Louisiana
The meeting of the Board of Directors of the LouisianaStateMuseum was called to order by Chairperson Rosemary Ewing at 12:30 p.m. at the Old U.S. Mint in New Orleans. A quorum was present.
Members Present:Jerry Adams, Madlyn Bagneris, Robert Barnett, Myrna B. Bergeron, Bill Curl, Michael M. Davis, Rosemary Ewing, Janet Haedicke, Aleta Leckelt, Lawrence Powell, Anne F. Redd, Philip Woollam, and Diane Zink
Members Absent:Susan Brunner, Allen “AJ” Gibbs, Jeffrey Pipes Guice, Ralph Lupin, Wayne McCullen, William Perret, and Donna Winters
Also Present:Robby Cangelosi, President of the Friends of the Cabildo
Randy Davis, Deputy Secretary, DCRT
Susan H. Maclay, Executive Director of the LouisianaMuseum Foundation
Robert E. Wheat, Interim Assistant Deputy Secretary, Office of StateMuseum
The minutes from the September 10, 2012 meeting were reviewed in advance. Madlyn Bagneris MOVED, seconded by Diane Zink, to approve the September 10, 2012 LSM board minutes. Unanimously approved.
Chairperson’s report
Rosemary Ewing said she recently attended some very nice events, beginning with the FOC’sNewcomb Pottery fundraiser and then the LMF gala, which was a great success.
Lisa Babin mailed out a Sports Hall of Fame (SHOF) challenge grant packet to all board members.
Last year, the by-laws were reviewed and they are still being looked at by Julia George, who will e-mail them with her proposed changes for approval, hopefully at the next meeting.
At the last meeting, the following names were proposed for the Executive Committee as follows:
Michael M. Davis - Chairman
Ralph Lupin -Vice Chair
Janet Haedicke -Secretary
LawrencePowell -Treasurerand Chairman of the Irby Committee
It was suggested that Philip Woollam be an at-large Executive Committee member but that appointment will be made by the new Chairman. Janet Haedicke MOVED, seconded by Philip Woollam, to approve the above nominated Executive Committee members. Unanimously approved.
Rosemary Ewing thanked the board for her time as Chairperson. She appreciates the opportunity. This will be effective November, 2012.
If there is a committee someone would like to serve on, they should discuss this with the Chairman. The Irby and Accessions Committees will meet at the pleasure of their respective Chairs.
Dr. Powell wanted to thank Rosemary for her time and proposed a resolution be written.
DCRT report
Randy Davis said that Dept. of Cultural Development (OCD) and State Libraries have accumulated art in their collections and they are hanging in various buildings and in storage in Baton Rouge. He said it makes sense for those collections should be turned over to the LSM. These collections have been inventoried. LSM has limited storage and this will have to be discussed.
Randy said there are loan policies about lending to elected officials and this policy will also be reviewed.
Director’s report
A mental health building was demolished that had an Albrezio mural mounted. It was salvaged and now DCRT has ownership of it. The Lt. Governor wishes to have it restored. It is being stored in Gretna. It would be very expensive to restore and it is large so that is an issue of where to display it. We are in the process of getting it assessed to see how much it will cost to restore. Thecontract for assessment is $5,000. Dawn Hammatt will be meeting with Pam Breaux and Rebecca Hamilton to discuss the best way to present this to the accessions committee.
LSM still does not have ownership of SHOF building. The finish date is supposed to be January, 2013. The planned exhibit was for $4.4 million and that was reduced from originally $7 million. $3.7 million has been raised. $1.1 million had to be raised to finish exhibit. $733,000 now has to be raised. SHOF secured a matching funds grant for $250,000. We have until end of October to raise this $250,000. To date, $143,000 has been raised. Mr. Benson raised $125,000 in cash and $125,000 in like services. LSM can use the $50,000 that was secured if need be. If anyone on the board knows of someone willing to donate to the matching grant, it would be appreciated.
The Baby Dolls exhibit is coming up. Whitney Babineaux said it will open at the Presbytere on January 18. It is a Carnival-focused exhibit, which deals with the African American women tradition of costuming as Baby Dolls during Mardi Gras.
Update on Search Committee
Dr. Powell said there has been very little movement. Diane Frankel with Management Consultants for the Arts should be calling Randy Davis with an update, but things are moving slowly. The vetting process is underway.
Accessions Committee report
The report was sent out in advance. It is attached.
The report was unanimously approved.
Irby Committee report
Rosemary Ewing gave the report.
Renovation request – 511 St. Ann, 3rd floor
LSM staff showed Robby Cangelosi the renovation plans and he was satisfied with the request after Ricky Caples answered some questions. Dr. Caples is making high quality upgrades. Unanimously approved.
Proposed tenant for 537 St. Ann
There were three proposals presented at the June 6, 2012 Executive/Irby meeting. All applicants were worthy but it was decided by the Executive/Irby Committee that the Tabasco Country Store would remain in the space. Unanimously approved.
Irby financials
The Irby financials were reviewed by the committee. Philip Woollam asked about the utilities cost. Yvonne Mack said we do pay the water for the entire Lower Pontalba, and we pay electricity for the 1850 House, gift shop, Tourism office, and 806 Chartres museum apartment.
Philip asked to see the estimated costs for what we think we will receive from the CAM over the upcoming year.
Janet Haedicke said the financials should read “total revenue over expenditures” at the bottom of the financials. That will be corrected.
Randy Davis said he will discuss some changes to the Irby financial presentation with Yvonne.
David Dalia
Robert Wheat proposed that David Dalia be appointed as general counsel regarding some collection matters and that his salary should come out of Irby.
As we go through review of our collections policy, we find we are lacking on enforcing some loan policy issues. We also have the Cusachs family asking for some of their collection back, but it is a sticky legal issue. We need an attorney to delve deeply into this. Irby always had an attorney on payroll in the past. LSM would like Irby to retain David Dalia at a maximum cost of $30,000 for one year. He will bill us hourly for the work done, at a cost of $125/per hour. Unanimously approved.
LouisianaMuseumFoundation report
Susan Maclay read the report.
Susan said the LMF gala was a great success, with approximated revenue of $213,000 and an attendance of 500 people. The media is still being tallied but the LMF was on 2 morning shows, did 4 radio interviews, and were on several social websites. Susan thanked the Lt. Governor for his participation.
December 8th from 6-8pm will be a Colonial Documents fundraiser that Susan hoped all board members could attend.
The LMF submitted a grant for BP tourism money in the amount of $250,000 and she will keep the board updated on the progress.
At the next meeting, Susan said she hoped to give a PowerPoint presentation on either the planned music exhibit or the colonial documents project.
Friends of the Cabildo report
Robby Cangelosi read the report.
The Newcomb Pottery exhibit opening had about 220 people in attendance over the 3-day event.
The Ghostly Galavant will be held on October 27-28 and will feature 7 courtyards and 7 characters from Louisiana history. The cost is $15 for FOC and LMF members and $20 general admission.
The Eat, Drink and Be Scary FOC costume party will be on Friday, October 26th at the Cabildo. Tickets are $35 for FOC and LMF members and $40 general admission.
The next in the Hidden Treasures series will feature Science & Technology on December 10 and 12 at the Mint, and there will be a Mardi Gras theme on January 22 and 24 at the 1000 Chartres storage facility.
The FOC is currently seeking a manager for the 1850 House.
New business
The next LSM board meeting will be on Wednesday, November 14 due to November 12th being a holiday.
Meeting adjourned.
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LSM board minutes
October 8, 2012